Arts bodies and the tobacco industry's cash

Dear Bob Thank you for your email and for raising awareness of the ongoing issue of tobacco sponsorship of the arts.

Yes, we are aware that it is still going on. Unfortunately, as you may be aware, corporate sponsorship by tobacco companies is still allowable since the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002 only applies to tobacco brands.

Tobacco sponsorship has been virtually eradicated from sport (F1 being the sole exception) but we do have a way to go persuading arts bodies not to take the tobacco industry's cash.

Amanda's last statement is only too true. The topic of classical music's ethically compromised funders has been picked up by a number of influential sources outside classical music including Naked Capitalism and tobacco.org, but the only influential source to pick it up within classical music has been the admirable Alex Ross. As Amanda says "we do have a way to go".

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"...by exposing the pervasive tobacco industry manipulation of scientific research for commercial purposes we seek to encourage vigilance by contemporary researchers who might consider seeking funding from an industry that places the pursuit of profits above the well-being of its customers".

That quote is from the abstract for a new academic paper by two American surgeons. The paper is titled "The price paid: Manipulation of otolaryngologists by the tobacco industry to obfuscate the emerging truth that smoking causes cancer".

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